Keep eating...It could JUST kill you.

Since we are both off from work for the week, we have been maxin' and relaxin'. We decided to meet my mom for breakfast this morning at this excellent place called the Breakfast Club. The name is as cheesy as the decor, but they do not play around when it comes to hookin' up the breakfast. From oatmeal and quiche to lobster bisque and any omelet you can think of, this place is one of my favorites. As many of you should know, I am an absolute food snob and not shy to admit that. Needless to say, we would rather be caught cooking food at home and rarely go out since being burned by too many places and just having bad experiences. Occasionally I can tolerate it though, but like I said, this place is consistently good and today was no exception. Anyway, we were there pretty early today and it was not packed at all. It's a small place (12-14 small tables) so you tend to be somewhat close to the next table. So, we are there eating our breakfast and these three women (two middle aged and one in her mid twenties) were next to us eating. One ordered this monstrosity of a dish. It was similar to crepes, but they were oozing cream cheese and topped with strawberry sauce and powdered sugar. I think they called it a "Blitze" or something like that. For me, one fork of that stuff MIGHT have been cool, but not that platter of the stuff. Sheesh. Would you like a side of Defibrillator with that?!
So, one of the other women orders some fried eggs with a huge piece of ham steak to go with it. Does not sound THAT BAD, but you must consider that these older women were not the picture of health and it was as if I was watching a heroin addict inject themselves right in front of me....So, we were enjoying our breakfast (vegetarian omelet for me, Libera got a wrap of scrambled eggs, cheese and bacon and my mother had oatmeal) and happen to be in earshot of these pitiful women's convo and half of it had to do with doctor visits and awaiting results from biopsies and thing of that nature. I'm thinking, "Uh....maybe a different selection of food might help you more." Anyway, just when I thought these women had enough food, one of them asks about getting a plate of pancakes. Because I was not really focused on their convo and did not care, I heard bits and pieces about the pancakes and just assumed that it was going to be a carryout. Then the server brings a 6" stack of these pancakes and these women (actually ONE of them) inhale the flapjacks. Man, I was amazed...Where is Kobayashi when you need him?! LOL! Amazing how people can complain about their own health and just insist on stuffing their gullets with food until their eternal rest....And to think that this was just breakfast...I cannot imagine lunch or dinner for those silly women...

BlackFriday DejaVu or what have you....?

I hope everyone had a nice Christmas and did not ingest too much artery-clogging goodness... :) Today is the day that the same people who broke their backs on Black Friday try to jump-start the economy again with frivolous shopping and reckless spending. Haha. Could someone tell me where the economy is faltering because it is not happening around here! The malls where jammed and the shoppers were out in full-force. Not me. Oh no, I knew better than that. Libera and I went to a store this morning to get some groceries and this place happens to sell clothes, has a pharmacy, sells CDs and plants, etc. I would say that it is similar to WalMart, but it is only local to MI and probably OH. Anyway, we got a few Christmas items 50% off and that was about it. Oh, we also hit a local hardware store near our house since I wanted to grab another bag of Calcium Chloride (rock salt is pretty destructive to cement; CaCl2 is not as bad) and we grabbed a few Christmas items there at 60-75% off. That's all folks. We were not about to roll the dice on another road rage situation today. I have no problem waiting the extra week or two to see what scraps are left at the stores. I'm not really looking for anything specific at the moment. I love a good deal and don't let too many pass by, but today was not the day to power shop.

Idiot of the Day

So, I am off work today and decide to take care of a few errands since I don't want to be bothered with them for the next few days. Plus, we will be busy over the weekend with Christmas Eve and Christmas Day. On the way to the bank there is a Dunkin Donuts and a local grocery store we always go to. I hit the DD and get a lb of whole bean coffee (ONLY because I had a coupon and they have an excellent brew) and jet out of there and as I am doing the turnaround to go into the bank, this idiot in an F150 decides that he does not like to wait for the SAME traffic I (and the rest of the other cars) am waiting for and drives into the inside lane when he was originally behind the car behind me in the outside lane. Obviously, I did not care if he was on the inside because I knew I had the right of way to take the outside turn and turn or cut across the street since because that is the purpose of that turnaround. Well, as the final car passes us, I see from the corner of my eye that this idiot is inching forward as if he wants to beat me across the street when he was CLEARLY in the inside lane. So, the car passes and he punches it, but not fast enough since (AGAIN) I was on the outside lane and decided to punch it before him and as I suspected, he was going to cut me off. That did not happen thanks to the engineers at Mazda :p. I was pissed that this idiot thought he was going to do that. So, I was just crawling and could tell he was furious behind me. So, he decides to speed around me and almost hits me as he cuts back in. I beeped my horn and decided to follow him into the grocery store parking lot (same lot as the bank I was going to) and he knew I was following him. I am allergic to road rage, so I had no intentions of doing anything stupid, but I just wanted him to know that I thought he was an idiot for doing what he did. Of course, in the back of mind is the idea that people would actually pull a gun on someone for such a stupid thing so I was mindful of that and was prepared to pop it into reverse if need be and he wanted to run some wild, wild west scheme on me. Anyway, the idiot passes like 20 parking spaces and parks at the end of the lot and I drive by and roll down my window and said with a fake smile, "Nice driving." He says, "Same to you @$$hole!" I just kept driving to the bank and knew that karma would come back to hammer him with a vengeance. No worries. People like that are really sad, but the world is full of them. You would somewhat expect people to act halfway civilized during the Christmas season, but then the reality hits and the evil inside of them manifests. The clown was old enough to be my dad and he's popin' off like that. AND, he was pretty small in weight and height; why is it that dudes who weigh like 150lbs drive big trucks? Does it make them feel like more of a man? That's another post, but I think it's pretty funny. That stupid guy gets my vote for the Idiot of the Day.

Motivation Reloaded

I really hate those ridiculous corporate posters that are supposed to motivate and inspire workers.
You might be given one of these pieces of trash if you complete a project in time and under budget.
The last two places I have worked at had these stupid things on the walls or could be seen on a manager's desk.
Give me a break.
Talk about cliche. Sheesh. I have included some in this post that I feel better represent what these things SHOULD say.... :)

Is it real science or just ridiculous marketing...

I will bet on the latter....It's no secret that I am somewhat of a fitness fan(atic) and hold my fitness activities as a pretty high priority in my life. With that being said, I enjoy the occasional sports drink (Powerade, Gatorade, etc.). I am not a huge fan of sports drinks and certainly not dependant on them for when I workout. Water is fine with me. I really only get sports drinks when I find them on sale, but nonetheless I drink them every few weeks. So, earlier tonight I finished up a workout and was just reading the label and started to think of how stupid it sounds for the marketing clowns at Powerade to emphasize "LIQUID HYDRATION" on the main visible portion of the label. Am I missing something here? Would the other states of matter (gas or solid) really provide me with hydration and they found it essential to point out that this DRINK was actually LIQUID hydration? Can hydration be obtained from a gas or solid? Uh....not UNTIL it liquefies....Idiots!!!

Ok, that's all with that. I feel much better now. By the way, Strawberry Melon is a pretty decent flavor for Powerade.

Arnold made the right call...

I am sure everyone has heard about the latest person (Stanley Tookie Williams) to be removed from this earth by lethal injection. I am also sure that you heard of the celebrity protesters and how Euros are outraged at Arnold for denying this convicted killer clemency. Give me a break! I understand that the EU does not allow capital punishment and several US states do. I think Euros have several issues they can focus on in their area and not be pre-occupied with the plight of a co-founder of one of the deadliest gangs in the US. How about we talk about the people who died as a result of Tookie? Does anyone feel sorry for them? So, Tookie wrote some kids books and got educated in the big house...Uh, great for him, but there are still people dead BECAUSE of him.

I don't live on the leftcoast, but Arnold made the right decision on this issue.

Digital Camera upgrade

I have talked about the possibility of investing in a prosumer dSLR camera for some time now. I am still set on getting the Nikon D50, but I plan to wait until after Christmas or the first part of next year to get that camera. I decided to upgrade my 5year old Sony 2.1 megapixel cybershot. I went with a brand that I thought I would NEVER EVER buy since they basically fell off the map and was getting killed by Canon, Sony, Olympus, etc. That brand is Kodak and what really tipped the scales for me was a review I read in the magazine 3D World. The magazine is out of England and a reputable source. They did a comparison of several digital cameras and the Kodak outperformed the other models. A sony they were comparing came in second. How ironic. The model is the EasyShare Z7590 and my only real complaint about it is the size. It is pretty bulky...REAL bulky, actually. I can live with it if the shots come out excellent. Some of that is user-determined though and I realize the responsibility in that. ;p Anyway, I will still keep the Sony as long as it still functions.Over the past 5 yrs, the sony digi cam has done pretty decent work. I never had any real problems with it. It is pretty solidly constructed. I never dropped it outside of the carrying case and it never got wet, therefore, I guess that helps. My biggest issue with Sony came when they moved from the Memory Stick to the Memory Stick Duo! F that! I would have probably bought another one had they not rendered my previous media obsolete. The cool thing about the sony cam was that I could take my memory stick out and plug it right into my tv since I do have a sony tv with a memory stick slot and could watch a slide show of the pics. Excellent integration! I know technology changes, but so do consumer choices and I absolutely knew my next digicam would use SD as the storage media of choice. I was real clear about that being a major factor since I am a fan of SD. I am not a fan of XD or CF (too flimsy!) since I have a feeling both of those will be obsolete before SD becomes so.Plus, I had been buying SD cards after seeing great deals on them after rebate in preparation for my Nikon D50 purchase. Anyway, there are so many settings on this new Kodak cam that it is going to take me a few weeks to get adjusted to it. The Sony was really intuitive and I really liked that part about it. Had I not purchased the Kodak, I was set on Canon for sure. My bro-in law just bought the Canon SD450 and it is really nice. The lcd on the back of that cam is huge! It's a fingerprint magnet. I will post shots with the Kodak in the future and we will see what the people think....

Blame the Turks, I say!!! Blame them!!

Ok, that is a stretch....I am referring more to the country of origin in which the impropriety that I will explain happened to a very good friend of mine recently. I have this friend who is techno-savvy. Smart guy, bla, bla, bla.....Well, he noticed that when he was attempting to pay for goods or services with his debit card last week, that the store, restaurant, etc. would say there was a problem with the card. The first time it happened, it did not seem for cause to worry, but the third time really caused this guy to wonder what was going on. Therefore, he calls his bank and they let him know (AFTER he called his bank) they did suspect something was happening with his card in terms of fraud and they put some type of flag on the transactions because they looked out of the ordinary and the country of origin was pretty far from Detroit. The bank was able to trace it to the country of Turkey. The thief racked up multiple charges and they actually cleaned out his checking account! We have all read the news or seen news stories about identity theft and I just want to remind everyone that it is alive and well and you should do what you can to minimize it. You CANNOT completely prevent it since most of our lives are on the Internet and comprising bank security is something the "bad guys" are trying to do everyday. When you purchase items online, NEVER use your debit card. Use a credit card because in terms of disputing fraudulent charges, the headaches are not as great with a credit card and you don't have to wait 30-60 for the bank to finish up their investigation and return money to your account.

Check out the following url for some info on reducing your pain when it comes to using a credit card: 22ways to foil credit card thieves

Mole, mole, mole...GUACAMOLE!!

Ok, it's after midnight and I was seriously jonsein' for some Guac. Not a typical crave, but when it hits, forget it....it must be taken care of. I bought a medium-sized Hass a few days ago when I felt the urge would occur sometime this week. Of course I should be sleeping right now, but again, this could not be ignored. Could it be that I was in need of a potassium influx (60% more potassium than bananas; believe it!) or was it something more far-reaching than that? Who knows. Who cares. All ingredients were in the crib and the creation was ready to be created. The Hass (although I REALLY prefer the Bacon variety; they can be huge! como mantequilla (like butta baby!) are decent for kind of an everyday situation and I knew my other ingredients would outshine....I sliced the fruit, scooped out the flesh and then located all the other actors for the play. Extra virgin olive oil, freshly squeezed lemon (lime would have been better) juice, kosher coarse salt, little bit of fresh cracked pepper, garlic clove, red onion and a few drops of hot sauce. Oh man!! I wanted to inhale the whole thing, but the angel on my shoulder saved me once again...Tomorrow is another day and devouring the guacamole will most likely happen...

You OfficeMax clowns are annoying me!

Another weekend, another fruitless attempt for me to purchase an office chair from my local OfficeMax store. I had a rain check from over a month ago and have been checking each weekend from even before Black Friday. I get the same BS from these clowns. "Our system shows we have it in stock, but apparently it's not in our store. These chairs come from overseas and there is really no telling when we will actually get them in." Give me a break. It's an $80 chair that I am buying for $40 thanks to a sale they had, but now this contraption has yet to make an appearance after the sale...Hmmmmmmm. So, this clown working the furniture section tells me that he could substitute the chair for another one. I am slightly excited about this potential, but in true OfficeMax fashion---disappointed. The chair he wanted to sub in was $10 cheaper and stiff as a board. Junk! The chair I want (originally 80) for $40 is really not the greatest either, but I refuse to pay for some of the other trash in that place and most other places I check are really just over-priced or the chair is seriously uncomfortable. I may just bite the bullet and go after my dream chair, but then again, I could also not feel like a fool for dropping all that loot on a chair, then again...........We'll see.
Anyway, I will probably walk into OM next weekend for yet another disappointment on my quest for a new office chair....

Hello weekend? Are you here yet?

Sheesh...I am ready for the fin of this week.....

I probably just need a timeout....

So, I was going into work a little bit later today and I decided to hit the fruit market to grab some fresh fruit, vegetables and few other things. I'm thinking (since we normally don't go to the store early in the day) that it should be a quick trip in and out and then back home so I can get ready to drive to work. Anyway, was I wrong! Man, it must have been some sort of unpublicized senior citizen holiday this morning! Geez. From the parking lot to most aisles in the store, I had to dodge, weave and wait for these blue hairs. Oh my!! It's always that situation (probably just perception) of feeling that delays occur when you are in a hurry. Annoying!! And, of course, I never want to be a jerk and make these older people think I am some young punk, so I smile (although I am screaming inside) and patiently wait for them to walk in front of me or wait as they block an aisle for several minutes and never grab anything....Oh well, I just hope I don't act that way when I reach that age....

Heart of a Lion (just not one from Detroit)

For some reason, this pic had me cracking up..."All I need is some courage...." LOL! Mimi was in the D last week for the Lions Thanksgiving game halftime show.

R.I.P Mr. Miyagi

Typecasted after Karate Kid or not, Pat Morita was an interesting guy. He died at 73 and will be missed.

Endless XBOX 360 lines and Black Friday....

People can be really ugly during this time of the year. Unbelievable! I have been reading stories about these morons fighting in lines last night (and early this morning) trying to get the new XBOX 360. I am amazed at humans sometimes in that they can basically trample over someone for a stupid gaming system that will bring them temporary gratification until the next iteration presents itself. Do I like playing console games? Of course! But, you won't catch me standing in a line for that thing longer than I would stand in a line to pay for some food at the fruit market. Sheesh! This chick (ok, woman!) at my work was telling me how her husband conned her into going to BestBuy to stand in line at 9pm for that stupid 360. You have got to be kidding me. Sounds like love to me. LOL! Could you count on these moronic people to stand behind a counter to feed some people in a homeless shelter or church for the half the time they stood in line for their stupid tech toy? I really doubt it, but it's all about what's important to you........which is the perfect segway into what goes down in the next three days---drum roll, please--- BLACK FRIDAY. After stuffing their faces, people gear up to prove there IS NO RECESSION or economic downturn in this country by maxing out credit cards to keep up with their neighbors and prove they really "care" about their family and friends by gratuitous spending of money they will bit*h about not having for the next 4mos. Amazing! Once again, as in my previous post, this country is wayyyyy tooo spoiled. Have I ever gone out on Black Friday? Yes, but I am talking one store, for one thing, no more than 2hrs (max!). I have rolled up on places where the line was wrapped around the place....I keep driving. It's not worth the let down of getting to the aisle and it being ravaged and the item being gone. NOT THAT SERIOUS! The other thing that is curious to me is where did the name "BLACK" Friday come into play? Rev. Al Sharpton, where you at! ;p

Ok, I could not resist my google fix...BLACK FRIDAY = "the day retailer balance sheets move out of the red and into the black -- is an important indicator of what's to come." And there you have it.

This country is WAAAYYY TOOO spoiled!

Today, Libera and I went to one of my favorite local fruit markets to get some flowers for my abuela and my mother-in-law. Being the frugal miser that I am, I always check out the clearance shelves for a great deal on vegetables, fruit, bread, etc. Most of the time, there is not too many things that great on this 5shelf unit on wheels that they keep on the outside of the store and away from the main entrance. Again, I am a frugal mofo, therefore, I don't mind walking 15paces out of my way to land a good deal. Anyway, I was amazed to find two bags with a 99cent sticker on each one for 10 (total) bell peppers. Red and orange. Man, I was hyped! Normally, these badboys are 2.99/lb and that's for the red. The orange are usually more. Sheesh. While that was a great situation, I began to analyze the background issue here. Today, this shelf unit on wheels was jammed with food that they had reduced for quick sale...Man, I am talking grapes, melons, apples, onions, some bread and a host of other items. I am not naive enough to think that the grocery business does not produce alot of waste, but sheesh. I think of people in this country and obviously in other parts of the world who have NEVER even seen that much food at a glance. I know we take the abundance of food we have for granted at times. I really try on a daily basis to never do that, but of course I have been guilty of it. It's kind of crazy that some of these grocery stores just load up their dumpsters with a few day old food. I know perishable stuff gets to the dumpster quicker than items with long shelf life, but it's kind of twisted that they would not at first thought earmark all of this stuff for local food banks since I can bet that within 5miles of any grocery store, there is a shelter, group home or at least a church that would take those items and pass them along to a hungry person or family. Sheesh....I guess people are just too caught up in things to help others out. Don't get me wrong. I certainly do not think that people who are CAPABLE of working should be working the system and STEALING this food from other people (orphans, disabled people, etc.) because they think they deserve it more.
Those of us in MI know about a recent story in the news of this scum of a woman who was working the system by going to a church food bank several times per week since March and the lady has 3 houses to her name with her husband. Get this...each house is 800K-1M and she was going to a church food bank?! Come on!! She stole food from others because of some twisted game in her mind. Horrible. While what she did is not technically illegal, I believe it is of a pretty low moral standard to ever do anything like that.Oh, back to this country. The obesity situation in this country is really a mess. Though I find it laughable to classify obesity as a "disease", I know those people are sick. It's just like morons who smoke. It's mental. People like to convince themselves that they are really dependant on those vices, but come on....In terms of food, it's all about portion control and the lack of exercise in their lives is really a no-win situation. Any oncologist will tell you, the number one way to reduce your chance of developing cancer is to avoid smoking. Sheesh, the friggin packs even warn people...and of course the government would NEVER put a stop to smoking since they get mad tax loot from these people....Don't get me started on the government....Ok, now I'm pissed...Time to hit the treadmill.....

The world is mine!!

Ok, I suppose this globe could be mine if I wanted to lay down the $160 for it. Ouch. Either way, it gets 10 cool pts for the aesthetics. Probably cost $6 to manufacture. Oh, the simplicity of design and the complexity of economics...

Photshop Critique

So....as I mentioned in an earlier post regarding the tough choice of buying a dslr cam, I have been teaching myself photoshop and it has turned into quite an obsession...actually more of a compulsion...in reality, an obsessive compulsion...ok, I'll be honest...I just wanted to weave obsessive compulsion into a post...Anyway....

Below you can see some of my work. Click to view more detail. The first photo below is the original. Fergie is the subject and a fabulous one at that. Any comments on a particular effect will greatly be appreciated.

Below is an edit to the original where I smoothed out the "shine" on her forehead and nose and brightened up the gold on her "dress". OK, it's a toga, but who cares. ;)

Below, she has entered the matrix. Pretty decent effect, I think. Changing the colors could be interesting.

Below, she enjoys a black & white situation.

Below, she has been the victim of a Vibrant Overlay for an interesting effect.

Below, she has been transformed to a comic character of some sort.

Below, she's is a sketch.


Ok, that is just a sample. Again, any thoughts would really help me out....That's all for now.

Try Indian Food because it's good!!!

Man, if you have never tried Indian food, get out and find a good place because it's excellent. We went out last night with some friends to a place in Farmington Hills called House of India and I have to say I was very pleased with all the food we ordered. Call me crazy, but I never really had Indian food in my life. No real reason other than I just never did. I also would hate to go to place and waste cash if the food ends up being junk. Not this place though....Wow. The decor of the restaurant was pretty lame. An occasional Indian woman in a painting and a few tapestries on the wall and nothing-special carpet and tables/chairs. All those details got shattered when I tasted the food! The one thing that really confirmed my hope of the food being good was that there were actually Indian people in there eating! Basic concept, but in my mind, if a place cannot even attract its own people, then it begs to be scrutinized. The place was actually packed with Indians and that made me feel like we made the right choice. Anyway, the garlic naan (garlic bread) was very good and super-garlicy. I love garlic, therefore, I had no issues with that at all. Libera got some chicken biryani and it was very, very good. Our friends ordered some lamb tandoori and some other things on a combo plate as well as chicken biryani. I ordered the chicken tandoori. We also had some lentil soup that was excellent. I ordered a mango milkshake that was Mmmmmmmmmm. Bottom line, House of India will see us again... :)

It's all about the Light Emitting Diode yo....

Amazon.com is on my top 5 sites for shopping on the net. It's really amazing the amount and range of items you can locate on that site and affiliated sites. I have purchased books, CDs, Clif Bars, pots/pans, camera accessories....the list can go on and on.....Anyway, I was checking out amazon last Friday and they usually have this FRIDAY ONLY sale that occassionally has some pretty decent sale items. I happen to check the site out and saw an LED flashlight. Oh.....LEDs are sooo cool. Just notice how intensly bright the light is from the flashlight....Sheesh. We have all seen them on vehicle taillights and many electronic devices, but now the ubiquitous flashlight? I had to have it! I was looking for an additional flashlight anyway since you really can never have too many and I have medium grade and really cheap ones. I figured I would see what all the hype was about since LEDs seem to be making their way into more common and lower cost products. Longer bulb life and use of less energy. As you should know, I am all about sustainable resources, recycling, green is the way to go if economically feasible in certain situations and all that good stuff. So, I get the item yesterday (free shipping since I also bought another item) and was pretty impressed. I recommend LED flashlights to the people. The light is a much different intensity and concentration. I am sure wavelength and semiconductors come into the conversation in explaining the unique properties of LEDs. The light beam is actually less of a beam and more of an overall concentration of light. It's kind of weird to explain until you see it. The range is not too far ahead of you if you point the flashlight, but the light has a wider circumference of light than a traditional incandescent bulb. Again, you should check out a store that has one of these things and see what you think. It gets about 20style pts in my world also. Peep the link to the item on amazon and let your light shine... ;p

Tough choices.....

Ok, it certainly is not a matter of life or death, but I need to decide if I am going to upgrade to the prosumer level in the world of digital photography. My trusty sony cybershot is pushing 5yrs old and it has been a nice view of the world from the 2.1 mega-pixel point of view, but I have been researching for the last year about the jump to the world of DSLR cameras. Obviously it's a significant jump in price and to know me is know that I hate spending money on purchases for myself. I feel sick to my stomach when I spend over $200 for an item. Not sure why, but I suppose it is some form of psycho-somatic mechanism that just manifests itself. I am over it by the next day, but nonetheless, it remains as a constant.
I have been teaching myself photoshop and really want to hone that craft and the idea of taking pics on a much higher res cam would really help in developing my pshop skeelz. I have a niece on the way and that is another excuse to upgrade the cam...yeah, that's it, blame the family for my own selfish gain...LOL! Really, I would certainly use the cam to its fullest potential, but I am afraid of my initial reactions to my treatment of such an expensive piece of electronics. I baby my sony p&s cam and like I said earlier, it's pushing 5yrs old. I guess I am just conditioned to take care of my digital kids...anyway, I would like to get the Nikon D50 or possibly the D70s right around Christmas or after the new year. No rush other than my selfish needs being sustained...haha. Some people keep mentioning Canon, but I went to a cam store and held several Canon models and felt much better about the Nikon models in my hands. The Canon felt much too delicate and not that I am a butter-fingers, but I just felt more sure of myself with the Nikon. I am about 99% set on getting the Nikon.........We'll see.....I plan for a bit more research on the upfront costs since I will be buying the body + the lens + the carrying case + the tripod + at least one high speed SD card for fast shooting......These choices need a rest for now....

"Hello Teamwork......Are you out there?"

Ok, it's not a stretch to say that all of us have worked in teams at some point in our work, school or personal life. The most frustrating thing is when people decide to form these silly alliances within the "team" for a variety of reasons. They may lack the knowledge to complete the objectives. They may be trying to "stand out" for that elusive promotion, therefore, crushing everyone in their path to get to the next level. They may just be moronic people who insist on dancing on everyone’s nerves for their own twisted entertainment. Either way and for whatever motivation it is, I just laugh about it because these people are just poor souls in search of something.....I won't go into any specifics for fear of making you fall asleep and smashing your forehead on your keyboard, but I am dealing with this situation and at least you should be able to relate to this situation and it's quite annoying....

Halloween came and went...

Well, another Halloween and yet another year sans tricker-treaters...Ok, we had two....TWO!!! They were the cutie little Iraqi neighbor girls. 6 and 7 or something like that. We went to costco this past weekend and bought a 5lb bag of candy for naught...Well, my coworkers will appreciate it, but that's not the point. I wanted to see some kiddies. Well, actually, I was not home Monday night since I am taking a Monday night class this semester and Libera was the one with the goodies for the kiddies. I did the right thing by going to class since it actually started to rain about an hour after getting dark and turned into a pretty nasty night; perfect environment to learn or work. My professor is a good guy. He held two class sessions. One on Friday night and one on Monday night since the class was pretty evenly split on who was going to show up due to most of the class having kids to take out for tricks and treats. No way I was going to kill my Friday night in class.....Anyway, next year may bring more kiddies, but I doubt it. I will still be the sucker buying the big bag-o-candy....

Open Source Web Browser...FLOCK

For those of us who despise IE (and you should if you don't already), we have been using Firefox or Safari for the last year or more. Sound the alarm for a new kid on the block!! Flock is the name of this browser and you can download a developer's preview and see that this should be a pretty decent browser in due time. It has nice integration with the three major blogging softwares players (WordPress TypePad and Blogger). Flickr and Del.icio.us display nice integration with this browser and then there are just some other very cool features that the geek in all of us will love. I have been running this on my pc and mac for the last few days and it seems pretty good. Flickr is great for those who know and use it. I am still trying to get adjusted to Del.icio.us though.....

I went the distance....

I enjoy trying to maintain an active lifestyle which includes cross-training and the by-product is that I feel good in body and mind and I can function in other areas of my life. We have had a treadmill for about a year and I use it like 3-4X week building up my distance and speed every few weeks. Usually I put in about an average of 35min and 3.2miles. It has been a goal of mine to run 5miles without stopping or resting and to conquer that fitness goal of mine. I did it today. The funny thing is that I don't really push myself that often when it comes to workouts or other physical fitness activities. I train every week with a good friend of mine and we hit the weights pretty hard, but it's never a situation where I cannot move my arms or walk the next day. He tells me that I never push myself enough. I get the burn and pump, but I just try to listen to my body. I don't know. I have been injured alot (broken nose, broken wrist, countless sprained ankles, strained knee ligaments...you get the point) in my days of zero responsibility (high school and early college) when I would spend hours at the YMCA playing basketball or playing football in the park with friends. I miss those days! :( It's difficult to accept that your commitments to work, professional development and family sometimes take away from sports, but I think I have my fitness goals and activities worked in pretty well to my life. Anyway, 5miles may not seem like much to most of you, but we are talking about someone who was not known for being a cross-country runner in any stretch of the imagination. I was a sprinter. I played baseball and it was the time from home to first base that was my main priority. I played basketball and it was that drive from top of the key to the rim that mattered. I played football and it was running that 10yrd route to get separation from the coverman. Anyway, you run in practice, but usually 2.5miles or something like that, but I was not the best when it came to longer distances. I feel good about this 5miles. I told Libera that I would like to eventually build up my fitness to run a marathon. Opera ran one!! Come one, if I cannot get to that point, I have serious issues. Hahaha. This is a small step in some people's minds, but I will keep up and post my progress as it incrementally improves.

Down for the count for the last 3 days...

Oh man. We ordered some landscape stones to put around one side of our house and into the back part of the house and along an area where we have some shorter shrubs and trees. Artic Rainbow is the name of the these stones and they are REAL stones...not some junk chips that erode before your eyes in a year; there is some light purple quartz, lighter tones and some white in the mix. Looks pretty decent. When I say "some" landscape stones, I mean 5 yards worth. If that means nothing to you I suggest you have a conversation with my vertebral column and most attached muscle fibers. The soreness is really only in the first hour or two from when I get up in the morning, but man, if this is what it feels like to be an old man, it pretty much sucks....After that first hour or two though, I feel fine. I suppose filling a wheel barrel over 70X (could be more, but I lost track of counting) and carrying it to the backyard and emptying it may have had something to do with that. I did all the human mule work and Libera did the fine tune work (digging for the landscape border, laying down the landscape paper to prevent eventual weeds/grass from sprouting through the rocks and leveling out the rocks once I would dump them in a particular area). The efforts were worth it though since the areas with the rocks look more finished and have just been elevated to low-maintenance status and that is really a good situation. I would rather deal with low/no maintenance then have to deal with BS in many areas of landscaping. I would have taken pics, but my brother in-law has my digicam this week.

Enough with the stupid race card!!!

As some of you may know, I am a rabid fan of the NBA. I am also a fan of the hip-hop culture (music, dress, history, etc.). I am also a fan of playing "the game" when conducting business and in business situations. Of course, this means if I plan to interview for a new job or am in a situation in which I am representing my employer, I have to actually "look" professional and wear a suit since that is "part of the game." Ok, that being said, the NBA has decided to institute a "dress code" of business casual for all public team functions and any NBA function. My point of this post is to dissect a portion of that new dress code--a section in the new dress code listing items players are not allowed to wear on team or league business includes "chains, pendants or medallions worn over the player's clothing." I am sure you have seen countless hip-hop videos or in your everyday life with these guys wearing 60K iced-out long necklaces dangling from their necks. It's not my style and I think it's pretty silly, but I don't have a problem with it in casual situations. You cannot walk into a job interview or meet with company VPs dressed like G-Unit unless you are a rap mogul or something like that because in that situation, that is essentially a uniform in their world. Anyway, I had to suffer through reading a recent article on espn.com that quotes the Pacers' Stephen Jackson describing the jewelry ban as "attacking young black males." GIVE ME A BREAK!!! This friggin millionaire just pulled the race card as is usually pulled inappropriately in situations like this. Grant it, he said he plans to not challenge the jewelry ban and the new dress code, but to say something like that is just ridiculous. Then you have functional illiterates who will hear (obviously will not be reading the story) this crap on the news and then take it upon themselves to remind every employer who imposes some sort of rule on them as "being racist." It's funny how Mr. Jackson can pull the race card in one breath and then say that guys have gotten sloppy with their dress in the other and thinking that the business casual is a move in the right direction.
With all the recent issues (hurricanes, riots, etc.) in the news, it's so easy for some ignorant people to just break out the race card and use it to help them in proving a self-fulfilling prophecy. It's a shame, really......

You could start with WASHING YOUR HANDS!!!

Ok, I have been absent from this blog for some time, but certainly not without worthwhile content. The latest of which is why do some people (mostly male) insist on NOT washing their hands after using a public bathroom/restroom/bano/water closet/you get the point after you know they just dropped Hiroshima in there? Today, I am in our staff lounge at work and there happens to be a bathroom inside that room; it has its own door and is at least on the extreme end of the room from where the lunch tables are at. Anyway, I am there eating my lunch and someone (a male) walks in and heads straight to the throne, but he had no intentions on dropping the kids off because the thing about this bathroom is that it also has a stand up urinal for the fellas. The walls are pretty paper-thin and this time, the TV in the room was off and I hear him walk in, finish his urination situation and flush the urinal and THEN immediately blows his nose (he was coughing and not sounding the healthiest that day anyway)...the guy comes out of the bathroom with snot-infested paper towel in tow and proceeds to grab one of the coffee pots and pour his first of 8cups of coffee for the day. Unbelievable!!! Then he starts BS'ing me with some obligatory small talk and I am just mortified inside my mind. I don't drink the coffee at work. It's something I have NEVER done since I have been working. It's mostly a taste issue with me since Maxwell Piss (I mean House) is like brown water and nothing like a strong caffeine injection I would prepare at home. Well, ok, I lied...I don't drink the coffee at work since I just think people are swine and avoid the most basic of self-hygiene activities---HAND WASHING. Talking to some of my female co-workers yielded the cruel reality that there are even some women in our building who don't wash their hands...Call me old school, but it's 100X worse when a female resorts to being as nasty as most guys are who don't wash their hands.....I hope any of you who grab those loose toothpics or mints at that greasy spoon restaurant keep this post in mind the next tim you lick your fingers........

Holy Panoramic Batman!!!

Peep this link of the Gulf Coast, post Katrina. This gallery (and I actually mean galleries) is truly amazing in its detail and the many stories in which are told. A broadband connection is a must and it can be resource intensive, therefore, my advice would be not to have too many apps open when you view this unless my PC just needs an upgrade to it's video card or something......Funny how it worked great on my macs.....Hmmmm...By the way (Ledio), this great technology is brought to us by the Quicktime (yes, Apple) plug-in in the champagne of all browsers.... :)

So you think you can dance....FOR REBATES?

Ok, here's the situation. I really, really hate to pay full price for anything and if I can get it for free (after rebates) then that makes me even happier. On a weekly basis or if I am in search of something, I like to scan the latest sales ads, online discount sites, check with friends and family about their experiences with buying the particular item I am in search of. Well, a few weeks ago, I saw this ridiculous deal for a hard drive at CompUsa. It was a 160GB Hitachi hard drive for $120 with a $60 Hitachi rebate and a $30 CompUsa rebate. Did I need such an item at that time? No, but for $30 after two separate rebates, I am all over that deal! I am a seasoned veteran when it comes to rebates and the process of making sure that all items are included in the envelope for the rebate check to make its way back to the rightful owner. Everything is going well post mailing until I receive an email from Hitachi a few days ago saying that I had not made the purchase of the hard drive within the defined timeframe of the promotion. Complete BS! My invoice was included in the rebate submission documents that clearly displayed that I had made the purchase in the proper date. So, my next thought is one of pure frustration, but I was prepared to fight this thing all the way to the top......Things never went that far, but I was prepared. Anyway, I call the customer service number (not listed on the rebate form; had to go back to CompUsa and get it from them) for the separate rebate company that handles the rebates for Hitachi since CompUsa told me to handle the issue with them first before they wanted to pay me the $60 that this rebate company wanted to keep that was rightfully mine. Anyway, we call and the headset phone jockey tells me that I did not purchase the item within the promotion time and I told him that I did...back and forth we went like a tennis match and then the guy says, "Ok, since we do value you as a Hitachi customer, we will honor this request just once and send your $60 rebate check." Just once?! Are you kidding me?! Anyway, I went along with this and said, "Thank you." I actually received an email from them yesterday saying that the check was on its way. The morale of the story is that rebates are good and great when you actually get them, but sometimes you have to dance like a clown to actually get your money......

Genetics make life interesting

Still in the process of harvesting vegetables from the garden. I pulled up the last tomato plant yesterday. There were about 14 mid-sized green tomatoes on it. Of course, I brought those inside to chill in the basement and ripen slowly. The egg plants are still looking decent. Not huge, but decent enough to marinate and grill or make a few other types of dishes. It cracks me up to see how sometimes there is an oddly formed one. I had to snap a pic of this latest natural creation.
It appears that triplets were to be the end result, but never really separated. Oh well, when this freak of nature loses the battle with my kitchen knife, my taste buds will thank the egg plant gods.

Adios Verano! I don't want to see you go.....

So, I am going into work later today and I was outside checking out some things around the crib and I had intentions on mulching my grass, but it's too wet and there are not much things worse than trying to cut wet grass because then you see the rotten fruits of your labor the next day (or when it dries) when half of the grass is just sticking up because of being wet and unable to be cut. Not good. Anyway, I was cleaning up the garden in preparation for the fall. I only have two eggplant plants left and one tomato plant (pics in the future in a different post). I have been harvesting tomatoes from the other plants the past two weeks. We have three plastic bags in our basement with green and ripening tomatoes that we have been eating (to a point) and giving the rest away. The three plants left in the garden are still producing, but it's basically what's left on them for the next few days and I will pull them up and rake the dirt and mulch it up so that it can sit for the next few months. We have a few more home projects to get done before the snow flakes start falling....

The sky is raining babies!!!!

In the past few weeks, I have had a cousin of mine add to the family with his first child (XX chromosomes) and two very good friends of mine have one child each (XX and XY, respectively). I love kids.....other people's kids, for now. We'll see what happens in the near future, but we really like sleep and spontaneous plans make life grand as well. The idea of having an impressionable mind seems like quite a challenge; A good challenge for sure. So far, the aforementioned individuals have had nothing but positive things to say about the new additions. My brother-inlaw has an XX on the way. We cannot wait for her to be born! Adding to the gene pool is something that some people do not take seriously. Hence, the millions of moronic adults taking up space on this planet. Notice, I said adults. Kids are a product of their environment. It's the adults that jade them and start the cycle over again for them to pollute this world. Is there really a nature vs. nurture debate? To some extent, but what a person may intrinsically possess (temperament, resilience, etc.) is really enhanced by the environment they are born into. Long live the kiddies!

Any thoughts?

Did you people skip a week of shopping?!!

Sheesh....we decided to stop by two grocery stores this evening before coming home after eating dinner at the in-laws. It was like THIS was Labor Day weekend! I don't know where all these people came from...MI is quite far from the Gulf Coast, therefore, even though we have seen several news stores of displaced people coming here, it's not like I live in Houston or anything like that. Also, it's not as though I saw most of the basic goods already purchased and gone from the shelves...There were just many more cars in the parking lots and some of the items we were looking for were gone. Needless to say, I was annoyed. The one thing that REALLY pissed me off was the fact that we were going pretty light (express lane style) shopping. In and out. No need to lolly-gag or dilly-dally....Anyway, this friggin wannabe cholo clown with this milky chica with an Olajuwon throw-back on had like 32 items that apparantly they failed to see the sign above them and all of our heads that read "Self Check-Out, 1-12items." Plus, the idiot could not understand why the automated scanner (with a built in camera) kept giving an error message because he kept trying to put the contents he just bagged into his cart without paying yet..."Idiot, that's why the space next to the scanner is 2'X 2' and NOT meant to support more than 12small sized items"...His groupie kept making him look stupid...Anyway, we just stood there thinking of a 1000 other places we would rather be rather than watching this drama play out. There were four of these self check-out stations and we finally got up and got out of that joint...Man, we hit the other store and it was sardines up in there! We needed lemons, raspberries/blackberries, oats, margarine and some brownie mix...the lemons they had were junk, the brownie mix aisle looked like it was ransacked; no more left :( of course, the healthy oats were fully stocked; what a shocker.....A truck comes in tonight...I'll hit that store tomorrow and grab the missed items....A Rican and his lemons are almost important as a Rican and his eggs (pun definitely intended....ha).

Katrina ad link to the Red Cross

Check out the top right corner of this page....
I can deal with having this on the blog for a while. If you want to add it to your site, just let me know and I can give you the javascript.


It links straight to the Red Cross with no click tracking and no landing page in between.

Who knows, maybe even the moronic spammers I get hit with will donate some of the cash they accumulate from annoying us with ads...

Mind of Mencia

If you have never heard of Carlos Mencia, you should try to hear about him. His show is on Comedy Central. In 2001-02, Mencia was a part of The Three Amigos that traveled with Pablo Francisco and Freddy Soto (two other guys who are pretty funny also) concert tour.

In the absence of CHAPPELLE'S SHOW, I have a void in my entertainment viewing that Mind of Mencia is doing a good job of substituting for. The number of Latino truths this guy speaks of is just hilarious. Of course, that might only be valid if you are Latino or really know about Latin people. He can be pretty controversial because he touches upon a wide range of subjects in real life, but it's absolutely hilarious.

I am sure he has some stand-up specials, although I have not seen him doing standup.

Check this clip out of a skit about his Sean Juan clothing line...Classic! LOL!

Everyone's crying about gas prices!!! Stop the insanity!!

How many times did I hear people complaining about gas prices today at work? Too many!!! Shut your mouths people! Maybe if you were not buying that $4 carmel-frapaccino-mint-soy milk-macchiato every day or eating your $12 California Pizza Kitchen lunch, you might have some cash in your pockets to fill up the 35gallon tank in your Land Rover. Morons! We don't even drive SUVs. Mid-size V6 sedans for Libera and I.
Don't get me wrong, I am pretty salty about the whole $3+ for a gallon of unleaded, but I realize the game being played by the government and the whole hurricane situation has added insult to injury to the rest of the US, but in the grand scheme of things, if you spent $18 to fill your tank two weeks ago and now you have to spend $26, rethink your other silly expenses and control your budget. Get a grip mofos!!!

Diddy in the mix again....

On the heels of the recent MTV Video Music awards, I was reading up on the situation that occurred with the white hot feud between Fat Joe and the Terror Squad and 50cent and G-Unit...Wow. If you did not see the VMAs, you should try to catch one of the 1000 replays they will have on MTV. Anyway, I have no intentions on reseting that situation. What I do want to comment on is that Sean Combs, aka, Puffy, Puff Daddy and now......drum roll..... DIDDY has recently joined mogul empires for a joint venture with Emilio Estefan to capitalize on the growing popularity of the Latin hip-hop market. More specifically, the emergence of the Reggaeton genre. For those of you not in the know, Reggaeton is a fusion of salsa, reggae and rap. It floods the radio airways in US urban markets such as Los Angeles, New York and Miami and is a fixture in the airways in Puerto Rico. Believe me, when I have a conversation with my 60-something great aunt who has been staying with my mom for the past few weeks and she mentions that she does not like Reggaeton becaus the kids are always blasting it too loud in Puerto Rico, but does like Daddy Yankee because she feels that he is good for Puerto Rico, I would say that is a force (economic and social) in society that someone was going to capitalize on sooner or later. Leave it up to Diddy to make himself more money and put Reggaeton on a bigger stage....

Is public speaking THAT difficult?!

Oh brother....I went to a "professional development" event this morning. What that really means is that I had to sit through 4 hours of several speakers discuss issues and situations that are related to the industry that I work in. I work in IT. I have had some really good experiences in the past with some of these events, but today's was not on my top 10; far from it....Imagine a room full of geeks; Asian geeks, Indian geeks, Anglo geeks, Jewish geeks and this Puerto Rican geek. I learned plenty of interesting information. Don't get me wrong, but 2 out of the 7 speakers were an ABSOLUTE bore!! Oh man...My mind was drifting to lands and galaxies far, far away....Sheesh..I would rather have listened to nails on a chalkboard or crying babies or something else horrific like that. What's worse than taking time (ok, work time) from your life to listen to someone who thinks they are doing a great job capturing the attention of the audience with a subject that the audience knows about and expects to be treated to some aspect of that information that will streamline their business, allow them to correct mistakes and increase their profits and overall knowledge? I mean, I looked over and saw two middle-aged men hunched over in dreamland...What made these two speakers even worse was that the various (3 out of 4) demos they attempted did not even work. "Uh, I tested this on the same type of computer and I don't understand why it would not work now." Murphy's Law? Who cares! You lost the crowd. You did NOT win the crowd and you did NOT win your freedom!! Needless Gladiator reference...They tried to hype it up and the audience was eager with anticipation to see the results and POW, the house of cards gets toppled...I have spoken many times in a public forum (school and work situations) and deep in the back of my mind is that whole aspect of steping out of myself and listening to me speak and making sure I am not a complete nimrod. Most of that is just being prepared and that thought would rarely cross my mind. Public speaking is crucial to one's success in the professional world; I really believe that. Although many studies have proven that some people equate public speaking to dying. Most people would rather soil themselves then stand in front of a group and speak. Oh well, I look forward to developing myself professionally in the near future.....

Commercialization Gone Wild

I know this is a recent (10-15yrs) concept in our society, but it does not mean that I have to like it. EVERYTHING is so friggin commercialized!!; mostly in the world of entertainment. I must lump athletics into that statement as well because the true essence of sports has been gone for a very long time. It's definitely annoying to be forced to associate some conglomerate with your favorite sports team or some aspect of a bowl game or tournament or even some meaningless skills competition event. Take my beloved Detroit Tigers as an example. They play in Comerica Park. Comerica is a nationwide bank that offers personal, small business, and corporate banking services. The company paid several million dollars to have their name on the park. For some stupid reason, "Tiger Stadium" just sounds so much better than a bank name....Here's another one for all you college football fans: The FedEx Organge Bowl. Geez!! It's ridiculous. I'm all for sports teams and the NCAA trying to boost their respective products with "help" from companies, but do I need to see the company name front and center? No! We've all seen the occasional idot show up on ebay trying to "lease" space on their forehead or other highly visible portion of their body for advertising. I know people will do anything for money, but it's just something I happened to feel like ranting about today...By the way, if any reps from Goya or Banco Popular happen to read this, lets negotiate some ad space on my thorax...

The more things stay the same, the more they GET WORSE!!

And what I mean by this is the constant news stories about soldiers getting killed in Iraq. Man, I'm not to the point of being numb to it like most people (idiots!) are, but I am getting to the point of being very sick of hearing about it. In no way is the tide shifting and I am going to turn this blog into a constant political rant; it's not my style. In case anyone did not know, I have "No Preference" as my selection on my voters card. Am I Independent? Not really although I feel some Independents have good ideas as well. I like ideas from Republicans and I like ideas from Democrats. Is the state of politics today evil and corrupt? Yes, very much so. Do I vote? Yes, since I have been of age to do so. Do I think a select group of men run this country? Yes, I believe it. Do I want to live in another country because of what's going on in Iraq? If I did, I would. That should answer that question. I appreciate the freedoms the United States has, but it's tough sometimes to grin when there is so much happening outside of the US and human beings are dying for "something". Part of my frustration comes on the heels of reading a story that the US Army has projected another 4 years in Iraq. Are you kidding me?! I was under the impression that early next year troops would be out of there and the constant fighting of several thousand years ago would continue. Frustrating man! Sheesh...If any troops happen to read this, I hope they know they are supported. They are following orders. I am not stupid enough to think that every soldier there "wants" to be there or believes in the cause, but I am glad there is a US military and I wish them a safe return sooner rather than later.....

Am I an Audioholic?

No, but if I were I would drop $3,300 on these cups. Behold the Sony QUALIA 010 Headphones. Man, those things look absolutely sweet. Married to my Shuffle, it would be a match made in audio_heaven....Oh well, it's just another example of wasted R&D by Sony.....